The rollout of the Greater Manchester and Cheshire Life Sciences Fund (GM&C Fund), with a first close of £30.7m, is being announced at the BioCap 2015 conference held at Alderley Park Conference Centre.
The fund, raised by Manchester Science Partnerships, Cheshire East Council, Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and Greater Manchester Combined Authorities, and managed by fund manager Catapult Ventures, offers a source of risk capital to local SMEs to drive the growth of innovative young life sciences businesses across the region.
A successful bid by the Greater Manchester and Cheshire and Warrington LEPs secured £20m of government funding, which has been matched by private-sector investors and is expected to reach over £45m following a second close.
Rowena Burns, chief executive of Manchester Science Partnerships, said: "The life sciences industry is amongst the fastest growing sectors of our economy, and is flourishing in the North West.
"Our goal is to work with our businesses to support their next stage in growth, by reducing their risks and accelerating successful innovation. We know that investment into early stage SMEs can make the world of difference in shortening the journey from idea to commercial reality.
"This new fund is just part of our commitment to the region's wonderful life science entrepreneurs. We have already started to think about how we can extend the scope and size of the fund by attracting further investors and making Greater Manchester and Cheshire and Warrington an internationally important centre for life sciences."
Nick Wright, chief executive of Catapult Ventures, said: "We are incredibly excited about this new fund, which we regard as a game changer for the life science sector in the region.
"This is a fantastic time to be investing in life science businesses, with new technologies being developed daily to meet the evolving needs of the global healthcare market. Catapult has been very encouraged by the quality of the companies we have seen already, many with very compelling propositions."
The fund, which is open to companies operating in the Cheshire and Warrington LEP or Greater Manchester LEP areas, is now actively seeking funding opportunities.
For the purposes of the GM&C Fund, an SME is defined as a business with fewer than 250 employees or full-time equivalent staff, a turnover below €50m (£37.1m) and a total balance sheet of less than €43m (£31.9m).
It will invest in life science businesses covering human and veterinary applications in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, diagnostic, life science contract research, healthcare technology and medical device sectors.